News of: Sunday, 11th of April, 2010

Front Page

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Barapukuria coal mine might be converted into the country's first open pit mine after completely rehabilitating the local people affected by the on-going underground mining activities.

The government's foot dragging to amend laws for polls to union parishads and municipalities and reluctance to hold the DCC elections in May is likely to upset the Election Commission's plans for this year's series of elections.

Bangladesh will not give in to western pressure for recognition to the large number of undocumented Myanmar nationals who entered the country illegally as refugees, said Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes yesterday.

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation's attempt to run special bus services for schoolgoers in the capital hits a snag. The initiative received zero response from school authorities, as opposed by the guardians.

Provost Council, an association of provosts of 16 Rajshahi University halls, observed work abstention yesterday demanding punishment of the BCL cadres who had attacked university proctor, Shaheed Samsuzzoha hall provost and others Wednesday night.

Opposition BNP alleged that listed criminals and armed cadres from different parts of the country including Dhaka city have converged on Bhola-3 constituency to snatch the by-election results in favour of the ruling Awami League candidate.

Officer-in-charge of Shyamnagar Police Station was closed to the district police lines yesterday amidst protest rallies and human-chains by local Awami League arranged allegedly for police torture on a Juba League leader.

Police have lodged a case against 100 to 150 unidentified people Friday night in connection with Thursday's tender violence between two factions of the ruling Awami League at Dinajpur Public Works Department (PWD).

At least 16 people--Magistrate Uttam Kumar Roy, four police constables and 11 BNP activists--were injured in a factional clash of BNP over holding two separate meetings in the town yesterday afternoon.

Editorial

DESPITE loss of some lives a couple of weeks back from a toppling billboard, a large number of them still remain precariously balanced on rooftops right before the eyes of the administration. Rajuk and the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) have no idea as to how many illegal billboards are installed on Dhaka's rooftops. One estimate says that there are around 4,000 such structures, with 90 percent of them being billboards on rooftops. There is every possibility that some of those billboards will claim more lives as the month of Baishakh is fast approaching with the message of sudden storms and gusty wind.

INDIAN Home Minister P. Chidamabaram's offer of resignation in the face of the massacre of 76 security personnel in an ambush by Maoist guerrillas brings two important points to the fore. The first is of course an image of democracy as it should be working. By offering to quit and by taking full responsibility for the tragedy, Chidambaram has only underscored the vitality along which Indian democracy, warts and all, continues to function. At a time when not many men and women in powerful positions around the world are willing to admit failure or acknowledge responsibility for things that go wrong, Chidambaram's act truly reflects the spirit in which a democratic system of government should work. A fundamental principle of such a system is the readiness of the individual at the top to be fully accountable for everything done in and by his organization. That his resignation has not been accepted is of course another matter.

Sports

The opening evening of the National Cricket League T20s will see the finalists of the tournament's first-class version take on each other at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. Rajshahi and Chittagong battled out in the final last month with the Khaled Mashud-led side coming up trumps in a high-scoring draw a month ago.

Dhaka Dynamites hope the capital city crowds will give them home advantage when they launch their National Cricket League T20s campaign against Barisal Blazers at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur tomorrow.

It is not known whether Sania Mirza or the now-happily-divorced Ayesha Siddiqui are aware that as a child growing up in the early '80s in the dusty bylanes of Sialkot, Shoaib Malik's sole passion was to fly kites. Perhaps it was here that he realised a kite always rises against and not with the wind.

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is set to marry Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, could land in fresh trouble for furnishing false information while giving divorce to his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui, according to official documents.

Royal Challengers Bangalore were inspired by their bowlers and a delightful half-century from Rahul Dravid in their seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders which propelled the hosts to second place in the points table. Bangalore's successful chase combined Dravid's conventional touch with Robin Uthappa's ruthless flourish to seal a morale-boosting victory and leave Kolkata struggling in the bottom three.

Deccan Chargers continued to climb up the Indian Premier League points table by beating Chennai Super Kings comprehensively by six wickets yesterday at their "home" venue in Nagpur to draw level with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and the losing side.

A blazing century from Rakibul helped Comilla emerge zonal champions in the 30th Inter-District Cricket Championship with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Cox's Bazar in the final at the Comilla Stadium yesterday.

An explosive century from Johnny guided Retired XI to record a convincing 50-run victory over Juger Alo Samity in the Khan Real Estate Second Division Cricket League at the Shaheed Miraz-Tapan Stadium here yesterday.

Brazil's planning for the 2014 World Cup faces "serious problems" if crucial work is not started before May 3, the deadline fixed by FIFA, Brazilian football federation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira warned on Friday.

The representatives from 10 Danish energy and waste management companies, now in Dhaka on a five-day visit, are exploring every possible way to find their Bangladesh partners for investments in conventional and renewable energy sectors.

Anna Margret Bjoernsdottir never thought she would be forced to leave her once wealthy homeland, but after 18 months of economic upheaval she has decided to join the biggest emigration wave from Iceland in more than a century.

US President Barack Obama on Saturday stressed the importance of tax benefits offered by his 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan that was enacted last year in the hope of boosting the US economy.

April 4 - April 8, 2010International Markets: This week the euro continued to be pressured the fallout from Greece , and speculation about possible renminbi revaluation provided relied to the Japanese Yen.

Local Awami League leaders forced the complainant to drop names of six accused from the First Information Report (FIR) on Friday's arson attack at Kamrangirchar in the city, although they played a key role in setting fire to at least 25 business establishments.

Expressing doubts about the success of the war crimes investigation agency, Forum for Secular Bangladesh (FSB) yesterday called on the government to strengthen it by inducting more competent and honest persons.

Leaders of different of organisations of indigenous people in a statement yesterday demanded of the government to publish white paper on the all killings, including Logang killings, in Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Bangladesh Chhatra League of Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University yesterday called off its movement on the campus following an assurance from Prime Minister's Education Advisor Prof Alauddin Ahmed.

Speakers at a function yesterday urged the government to immediately ban the politics of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and their front organisations in order to restore the constitution of 1972 for establishing the spirit of War of Liberation.

National

While boro farmers in most areas under Teesta Irrigation Project are crying for water due to scanty flow in Teesta River, a section of canal lessees are compelling farmers in the upstream to pay much higher than the official rate as service charge for irrigation.

About 200 shops in the city's Halishahar area remained closed for three hours yesterday in protest against attack on a local banik samity (traders' association) leader by a gang of criminals on Friday night.

Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has started the construction work of Fire Brigade-Nawdapara road without taking punitive measure against those involved in the irregularities that increased the project implementation cost by Tk 22.24 crore.

Greater Khulna Development Action Coordination Committee (GKDACC) yesterday formed a human chain in the city demanding allocation of adequate fund in the next national budget for implementation of different development projects of the south-western (S-W) region.

At least 20 people including four policemen were injured during a fierce clash between people of two villages over taking control of a newly emerged land mass at Charvatera village in Daudkandi upazila on Friday noon.

At least 100 patients of Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital abstained from taking food on Friday protesting the supply of stale and stinking food by the hospital authorities. The patients complained that everyday they are given substandard diet which is not worthy of eating. They alleged that they could not even take the breakfast as the bread smelt bad. Nazrul Islam, a patient, said despite repeated complaints the authorities did not take any measure to ensure supply of standard diet. Acting Civil Surgeon Abu Md Khairul Kabir said the contractor concerned will be showcaused and the contract will be cancelled, if necessary, to improve the situation.

Police arrested two Shibir activists from Truck Road area in Chandpur town yesterday. The arrestees were identified as Mosaddek Al Hakim, 30, son of Maulana Shamsuddin of Raipur upazila of Laxmipur and Zakir Hossain, 32, son of Hafez Md Bashir Ullah of Chandpur Sadar upazila. Sub-inspector of Chandpur Sadar Model Police Station Abdur Rab said a group of Jamaat-Shibir activists brought out a rally in the town in the morning demanding release of their fellows arrested from different parts of the country. Police arrested the two fearing deterioration of law and order situation in the district, he said. The arrestees were sent to jail.

A woman was slaughtered allegedly by her husband at Beoline village in Barura upazila on Friday night. Housewife Manju Begum, 22, was wife of Shamsuddin of the village. Police quoting locals said, Shamsuddin who used to live in his in-law's house killed Manju on Friday night. As the couple did not come out of their room in the morning, family members broke open the door and found Manju's slaughtered body lying on the floor while Shamsuddin hurriedly fled the scene. On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Sadar hospital morgue for autopsy.

At least nine houses and four shops were gutted in separate fire incidents in the district yesterday. Fire brigade sources said a fire that originated from the kitchen of Ambia Begum at Dhalat village in Sadar upazila burnt down three adjacent houses at noon. In Lalpur upazila, five houses were damaged in a fire at Walia East Shahapara village. Locals said the fire originated from the kitchen of Shaker Ali of the village at about 12:30pm and soon engulfed four other adjoining houses. Besides, four shops were gutted as a fire broke out at Walia Bazar in Lalpur upazila early yesterday.

Extortionists beat up a goldsmith in the Kalibazar area of the city on Friday night. Protesting the incident, the goldsmiths yesterday kept their shutters down for an hour and brought out procession demanding arrest and punishment to the criminals. Sources said, the gang was threatening Biplob, one of the owners of Baishakhi Jewellers, demanding illegal toll the last couple of days. On Friday night, about 10-12 criminals led by Indra Ghosh beat up Biplob for refusing to pay the money. Topon Chandra Das, elder brother of Biplob filed a case against Indra Ghosh. He said the criminals led by Indra beat up Biplob for illegal toll.

A man was chopped to death at Rasiqpur village in Mujibnagar upazila in Meherpur on Thursday over a piece of disputed land. Victim Karibul Islam, 30, was son of Khoka Seikh of the village. According to police, Karibul's relative Surus of the same village had conflict over a piece of land with one Abdul Kuddus who occupied the land for long. Karibul with some of his followers went to retake the land at about 12:00pm. Sensing the matter, Kuddus with his men rushed to the spot and chased Karibul. Karibul took shelter at his house but men belonging to Kuddus dragged Karibul out his house and chopped him on the spot. Severely injured Karibul was taken to Meherpur General Hospital where he succumbed at about 3:30am.

A Chapainawabganj court sentenced two persons to 10 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) under Arms Act on Thursday. The convicts are Enamul Haque, 36, son of Abul Kalam of Chouhodditola Moholla and Rabiul Islam, 22, son of Mohammad Alauddin of Mohadanga-Pulpara in the town. Additional District and Sessions Judge of Chapainawabganj Arup Kumar Goswami pronounced the verdict. According to the prosecution, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-5) raided Enamul's house at Chouhodditola on July 22 in 2006 and recovered one rifle and one shutter gun. Rab arrested Enamul and Rabiul. Rab handed over them to Sadar police station and filed a case against them under Arms Act.

Letters

Bangladesh can solve the problem of electricity by cost effective solar energy projects. The govt has to give loan or subsidy to the consumers both in urban and rural areas. It may be the best solution for both long and short terms. We have seen that happening in a rich country like Australia. The govt should think it seriously.

The whole nation celebrated the 39th anniversary of independence of Bangladesh with festivity remembering the supreme sacrifice of the valiant sons of this soil who laid down their lives to snatch away the red sun of freedom fighting against the Pakistani occupation army and their collaborators. They fought under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation.

Dhaka, the core city of Bangladesh, is becoming simply unliveable! Its gigantic pulling power is the main reason behind such an intolerable situation. Decentralization is an urgent need of the hour. But how? Thousands of people are coming to this city every day, thousands of causes are there! Employment, education, treatment, amusement..! A major portion of them are environmental refugees affected by river erosion, cyclones, floods! Other cities are unable to fulfil their demands.

This issue was reported in all dailies on March 31. However, it raises an interesting fundamental question. Who and how will the ban be manned for enforcement? Without strict and effective follow-up on compliance and enforcement, the measure is bound to fail!

It may sound weird, but it is a reality. It takes almost 2 hours to travel from Kalabagan to Banani and vice verse on all days except on holidays by a motorized vehicle. In the sixties we could go to Banani within half an hour on a rickshaw from Kalabagan and within 10 to 15 minutes by a car.

I refer to the article entitled 'Salary Hike for the High-ups' published in the editorial page of your daily of March 10, 2010. While I agree in principle with Mr Latif Mondol about the unjustified hike in salaries and privileges of persons holding public offices, I differ with his comment that a large number of the current MPs are otherwise very rich. MPs are not supposed to receive salaries like public servants. They can at best claim some compensation for the time they devote to betterment of their respective constituencies. I know about some of the MPs who did not have legal earnings of more than Taka 10,000.00 a month before they became MPs. Compensation amounting to approximately Taka 100,000.00 a month including proposed salary, benefits of housing, transport, telephone, attendance of sessions, medical, insurance, travelling etc cannot be justified. Nobody will be able to monitor how much of the discretionary allowance of Taka 300,000.00 will be spent for the constituents.

The news entitled "10 minutes shock at JS" published in The Daily Star (04th March 2010) is not only shocking for the people of the country but also it has thrown the nation into deep, dark shadows of shame. Lawmakers of both the ruling party and the opposition rushed towards each other gesturing aggressively. They exchanged extremely indecent and vulgar words on the floor, most of which are 'unprintable'. We are really astounded at such 'unparliamentary' behaviour of our parliament members. The national assembly is not a place for cock-fight and emitting filthy jargons and to create a mayhem-like ambience, rather it is a place for taking and making decisions and plans to run the country and to build up the nation. Obviously, JS is supposed to play a representative role and it is likely to reflect the dreams and hopes of the nation. But what happened during the parliamentary sessions seriously hurt the image of the nation.

People say, or the saying goes, 'Don't speak ill of the dead'. But it is our ill luck that our MPs get themselves locked in debates over the two dead leaders calling them 'murderers' and that too in the sacred House of the Nation defying the ethical convention to be observed there and skipping over the burning issues of the nation that are pushing us behind in almost every sector. It I was too bad for an AL lawmaker to raise the issue of late President Ziaur Rahman that it was not his corpse that was buried in the Chandrima or Zia Uddayn and he reiterated his claim. His claim and insistence on that is simply unscrupulous and a futile attempt that brewed up trouble in the House leading to the opposition's walk-outs. He should have reckoned with the sentiment of a greater majority of the people who heartily love and respect Zia, and that the people have been visiting the place and praying for him since he was killed and buried there in 1981. You cannot destroy the people's belief and detract them from what is deeply entrenched in them and from the established fact.

Biotechnology, as the word suggests, is the "fusion of biology and technology" using biological techniques for product research and development. The question is: is biotechnology a friend or foe of the environment? While there are no doubts that biotechnology has some downsides, I feel that biotechnology is definitely a friend of the environment. Biotechnology is largely involved in energy production. We all know that the demand of energy in the modern world is increasing drastically. Biotechnology may be a good source. Biotechnology, in Phytoremediation, can be used to clean up the environment. One example is the use of microbes to clean up wastewater. Besides, it has a great role in reducing pesticides use. Naturally, some pesticides are recalcitrant in nature and not easily digestible. Biotechnology can help the environment considerably in an effective way. Another important task of it is to produce maximum yield with limited land resource and thus conserve biodiversity. These techniques are environmentally safe.

Bangladesh is passing through a crucial time with its energy crisis. The energy security is threatened here. With power gas and water crisis people are suffering most. Load shedding is very much regular. In 24 hours of time, electricity/power is available for 7-9 hours and it also varies from place to place. The newspapers have published detailed reports on load shedding. This Energy security has obstructed our agriculture and industrial production. On 30 March, a newspaper reported that due to the energy crisis our industrial production has declined by 30 percent. It has also reduced national investment.

Don't ask me to eradicate corruption because without it we will see a surge of the good who will ultimately drive us away from the scene. Don't you know it is the Chhatra League that helped us do anarchy all over the country prior to our coming to power and don't you know the police will support our marauding activists as long as we let them to be steeped in corruption? Before pointing finger to us do some soul searching and discover how deluded you were in electing us to power again and again, knowing full well that we were always for one party rule and that famine followed our misrule.

Nowadays a burning question is why under Islamic law women's share of the inherited wealth is only half that of a man. And various initiatives are being taken to enact a law that will ensure women's equal rights to their parents' property. But we should understand logically the reasons behind the Islamic law. A brief explanation is given below in this regard.

We all know what the benefits of smoking are. But the smokers will never listen to any advice. They will just carry on their bad habit causing health hazards not only to themselves but also to us (non smokers). Let them do it.

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, whose party cemented his political dominance by winning a majority in parliamentary elections, promised yesterday to bring peace and prosperity to a nation battered by decades of civil war.

Arts & Entertainment

Noted troupe Theatre Art Unit brings a new production to the stage. Titled "Magaj Shamachar", the premiere of the play was held at the Studio Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on April 9. Saif Sumon was the director of the play.

The launching ceremony of “Tumi Amar Chiro Kaaler”, an album of Tagore songs, was held at the main auditorium of the National Museum on April 9. Recorded by the Tagore artiste couple Sajed Akbar and Salma Akbar, the album contains 10 Tagore tracks.

Award-winning actor-director Aparna Sen is no novice to exploring the man-woman relationship in her films. However, she sees her latest directorial offering, “The Japanese Wife”, as a “unique” love story that cuts across cultural and geographical physical boundaries.

On the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, Kino Eye Films will organise screening of some of Tanvir Mokammel's acclaimed films. The screening will take place at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Central Public Library, Shahbagh on April 14, according to a press release.

The whole Bachchan family is associated with some or the other social networking site except Jaya Bachchan. Hence daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai has taken upon herself to convince her mom-in-law to join the micro-blogging site Twitter.

As part of ongoing Syed Badruddin Hossain Memorial Theatre Festival, Indian troupe Theatre Workshop staged its production "Jodio Galpo" on April 9. Organised by Padatik Natya Sangsad (TSC), the play was staged at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Written by Sudipto Bhoumik, the play was directed by Ashok Mukhopadhyay. The director along with Krishnagati Chattopadhyay played the central characters in the play that depicts a young Indian entrepreneur's sudden crisis in New York.

OP-ED

THE current electricity, water and gas crises, coupled with high prices of daily consumption goods for the middle and the poor classes, and compounded with low prices received by agricultural product growers, have put the present government on the defensive.

EMPOWERED by his recent success in reforming the US healthcare system and in reaching an arms control treaty with Russia, President Barack Hussein Obama has finally told Israel "enough is enough." What is interesting is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the great defender of the concept of Greater Israel, unwittingly provided him with the opportunity to do so.

BANGLADESH has made impressive progress towards achieving primary education for all over the last two decades. Yet, development of primary education poses a daunting challenge because of inaccessibility and resource constraint.

P. Chidambaram first tried out the resignation route to heroism when he was in P.V. Narasimha Rao's Cabinet. Rao, a bit like his protégé Dr Manmohan Singh, was a Prime Minister wrought by fate; he had, in fact, retired because of a heart condition and sent his impressive library to Hyderabad, where he intended to spend his time. He did not contest the elections for the 1991 Parliament that made him prime minister. The younger Congress leaders, consequently, tended to underestimate him. Rao surprised the political class, and shocked the victim, by accepting Chidambaram's resignation. The scar never quite healed; Chidambaram eventually started his own party, and was brought back into the Congress mainstream only by Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

EVERY year at about this time, city dwellers should show their gratitude to the man who gave us our skylines. You see, it was on March 23, 1857, that Elisha Graves Otis launched the first commercial elevator, making tall buildings possible. But in doing so, he introduced a transport conundrum that adds stress to the lives of billions of apartment block dwellers every day. If you live or work in a building with more than three storeys, you know what I mean.